Fire-extinguishing apparatus for cinematographs



W. TAYLOR. FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS FOR CINEMATOGRAPHS. APPLICATIONFILED SEPT. 28, 1920.

. 1 ,429,548, PatentedSept'. 19, 1922.

Patented se als, 1922.

UNITED E PATENT OFFICE. V

\WIIILIETAYLOR, 0F FARSLEL-NEAR LEEDS, ENG-LAND. I

FIREIEXTINGUISHIING APPARATUS FOR cnvnivmroenziriis.

stpliati nm'ea September 28, 1920. Serial No. 413,394.

ToaZk-whom' a may aomem:

Be it known' 'tha'tfl, W nnie" TAYDOR,- a subject of the King of' GreatBritain and Ireland," residing at Farsley, near Leeds, in

the county o'f "York,--Engla1id; have invented new and usefullni'li'rovements in Fire-EX- tingui hing App ar'atus for Gin'ematographs, o-fwhich the following is" a specification.

This invention relates to fire-extinguish normally closingsaid' orifice,means for supporting said valve, a spring tendingto move said valve'clear'of said orifice; and an inflammable connectionfor retainingsaidvalve olose'd 'ov'er'said' orifice against the aotion'of" said spring;saiid= orifice and in flannnahle connection being disposed immediatelyabove the film: gate of the cinematograph; In use, when thefilni'fi'res, the inflam'rn ahle c'on nection is fired thereby; andbreaks, whereupon the springi movesthe' -valve clear of theorifice inthe fiuid supply: pipe andrele'ases a jet of fire-extinguishing fluidtherefronr Which e'xtinguishesthe fire, the film beingextim guished inor adjacent to the gate so'that only very: short length of fi-lln v(rarely more than a-' few inches) is destroyech I may'also provide apair of spring contacts in I- the power circuit' of the-cinematograplr,and aninsulated contact block normally held in engagement with saidspringicon tacts' to close said circuit by inflammable conneotion'but'adapted to be moved'o'ut of engagementwith said sprin'g contacts by asaid spring? when said connection breaks; whereby. the: motor drivingthe machinerynwhich feeds the fih-nis automatically stopped I may;fi-irther provide a" supple mentarycontactnormally 'out o'f engagementwith' said spring contacts butadapted to 'be moved into engagement withone of them i when the inflammable connection breaks, andelectricallypperated means in series with said supplementary contact forextinguishing the arc lamp of the cinematograph. M v a i I willfullydescribe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawingswherein a Y Figure 1 is a side elevation of one vconstruction of myimproved extinguisher and 'i stop motion; V c

Figure 2 is a plan, the spooltbox being re moved for clearness; and iFigure 3 is a part'siinilar view to Fig 1 showing the posit-ion of themoving parts after operation.

Figure at is a diagrammatic plan to a larger scale illustrating oneconstructlon of the means for ext nguishing the arc lamp ofthe machine.

Referring firstto' Figs. to 30f the drawings; in the constructiontherein illustrated, 11 1s a flu d-tight storage reservoir adapted tocontain a charge "of fluid under, pressure which maybe air or afire-extinguishing gasor partly air or gas an'dpartly, a tireextinguishing liquid. The reservoir is mounted ina convenientpositionyahove or behind the cinematograph, for example (andas shown)behind the top spool box 12. The reservoir 11' is fitted withanonreturn'inlet' valve 13 of anyfsuitahle' known construction, and,"where a liquid is used,

witha filler caplet. The reservoir 11 is also provided with a pressuregage 15 of convenient known construction, the face of which preferablyfaces the operator of the machine. 16 is the outlet pipe from thereservoir 11 and leads to a pressure jet 7 .1

orifice 17 in a hollow frame 18, said orifice being locatedzdirectly"aloov'ethe film gate 19"ofthecinem'atograph. The orifice 17 is normallyclosed bya valve disc 20 carried by" a lever 21: pivoted at 22 whichisheld in 1 normal position against theaction of a spring 23 by aconnection 24: (Fig. 1) of Y cotton strands or other inflammablematerial disposeddirectlyn over the film 25 passing through thegat'e19,said connection'24- on gaging at one side the lower end of the lever 2iand at the opposite side an adjustable hook 26 carried by an arm 2? ol"the frame it which is supported by the upright 28 of the machine. Theframe 18 also supports the pivot 22 of the lever 21.

The pivoted lever 21 also carries an insulated metallic contact block 29adapted to normally engage between spring contacts 30, 31 in the circuit32 oi the electric motor driving the cinematograph.

It will be seen that, should the film fire as it is passing through thegate 19, the rising flame immediately ignites the cotton connection 2%which breaks, and the spring 23 comes into action and rocks the lever 21to move the valve 20 clear of the orifice 17 and sinuilataneouslydisengages the contact block 29 from between the spring contacts 30, 31thus releasing a pressure jet of fireextinguishing fluid from theorifice 17 which plays directly on the burning film and ere til guishessame, and at the same time automatically stopping the motor drivingmachinery which feeds the film.

In the arc lamp extinguishing apparatus illustrated in Fig. ithe pivotedlever 21 also carries, in addition to the insulated. contact block 29, asupplementary contact pin which normally lies in a groove 3% in thecontact 30 out of engagement with it and the other spring contact 81 butwhich, when the film fires and the inflammable connection 24 breaks andallows the spring 23 to come into operation to disengage the block 29from the spring contacts 30, 31, makes contact with the contact 80 andcurrent flows from the motor circuit 32 through the pivoted lever 21,spring 23- and frame 18 to a terminal 35 and by a conductor 36 to one ofthe terminals 37 of an electroanagnet 38, the other tern'iinal 39 of themagnet being earthed. The magnet is thus energized and attracts apivoted releasing catch 40 which normally engages a switch ll in theelectric arc lamp circuit and holds same closed against the action of aspring 42, but which, when attracted by said magnet diseng; es theswitch 41 and allows the spring l2 to open same and so break the circuitof the arc lamp, so that, when the film fires and the extinguishingapparatus automatically comes into operation to quench the fire ashereinbefore described, not only is the operating motor of the machinestopped but the are lamp is also extinguished, thus rendering themachine absolutely dead and n'eventing any possibility of the filmre-firing, which might occur it the are lamp continued to burn. I

lVhat I claim and desire to tors Patent is I 1. In fire-extinguishingapparatus cinematograph's,

secure by Letfor the combinationof a reservoir i'or fire-extinguishingfluid, a fluid out-- let pipe connected thereto, said outlet pipe havingan orifice, a valve normally closing said orifice, means for supportingsaid valve, a spring tending to move said valve clear of said orifice,and. an inflammable connection for retaining said valve closed over saidorifice against the action oi said spring, said orifice and inflammableconnection being disposed immediately above the film gate of thecinematograph.

2. In fire-extinguishing apparatus lor cinematographs, the combinationof a fluidtight reservoir for fire-extinguishing fluid under pressure, anon-return inlet valve fitted tliereto,a filler cap, a pressure gage, anoutlet pipe for the fire-extinguishing fluid, said pipe having anorifice located di rectly above the filmv gate of the cinematograph, apivoted lever, means for supporting said lever, a valve carried by saidlever, said valve normally closing said orifice, a spring tending tomove said valve clear of said orifice, and an inflammable connection forretaining said valve closed over said orifice, said inflammableconnection being disposed dir ctly over the film gate of thecinematograph.

In fire-entinguishing apparatus for cinematographs, the combination of areservoir for fire-extinguishing fluid, a fluid outlet pipe connectedthereto, said outlet pipe havin a fluid orifice, a valve normallyclosing said orifice, means for supporting said valve, a spring tendingto move said valve clear of said orifice, an inflammable connect-ion forretaining said valve closed over said orifice against the action of saids iring, said orifice and inflammable connection being disposedimmediately above the film gate of the einematograph, a pair of springcontacts in the power circuit of the cinematograph, and an insulatedcontact block carried by said valve supporting means and normally heldby said inflammable connection in engagement with said spring contactsto close said circuit but adapted to be moved by said spring out ofengagement with said contacts when said connection breaks.

l. In fire-extinguishing apparatus for cinematographs, the combination0:! a reservoir for fire-extinguishing fluid, a fluid outlet pipeconnected thereto, said outlet pipe having a fluid orifice, a valvenormally closing said orifice, means for supporting said valve, a springtending to move said valve clear of said orifice, an inflzunmableconnection for retaining said valve closed over said orifice against theaction of said spring, said orifice and inflammable connection beingdisposed immediately above the film gate of tactsin the power circuit ofthe cinematograph, an insulated contact block carried saidvalve-supporting means andnormally held by said inflammable connectionin engagement With said spring contacts to close said circuit butadapted to be moved by said spring out of engagement With said springcontacts When said connection breaks,

and electrically-operated means automati cally operated forextinguishing the arc lamp of the cinematograph when said alve 10 ismoved away from its seat.

In testimony whereof I havesigned my name to this specification.

WVILLIE TAYLOR.

